Rebecca Tenaglia: Many 'leaders' emerge from the Boston Marathon tragedy

April 18, 2013

Sometimes the greatest examples of leadership stem from servant leadership in crisis situations. As I, like many others, took to social media moments after hearing news of the tragedy unfolding in Boston this week, I was overwhelmed by the sincere thoughts and concerns of many.

In the midst of a sea of kind sentiments, confusion and doubts, I stumbled upon a quote from Fred Rogers that reads, "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping,'" and so that's what I started to do. I started to look for all the good acts of kindness that stemmed from the incident.

According to an article in USA Today, everyday people responded to the needs of others and became servant-leaders. For example, a Google Docs form was created that allowed marathon runners from outside the area to receive contact information from Boston residents who opened up their homes to runners who had nowhere to go.

Additionally, Twitter was filled with hashtags from people posting #prayforboston and similar messages empathizing with those across the country. Reports were made of runners being stopped numerous times by Bostonians asking if they were in need of a bed or a shower. Pictures appeared of Bostonians offering food and drinks to people in need. Reports from the American Red Cross stated "thanks to generosity of volunteer blood donors there is currently enough blood on the shelves to meet demand." NBC Sports Network tweeted "Reports of Marathon Runners that crossed finish line and continued to run to Mass General Hospital to give blood to victims."

All of these people are leaders responding to a crisis. Leadership does not have to be something elaborate and unattainable. As leadership expert Drew Dudley stated in his TedTalks presentation in Toronto in 2010, "We have made leadership into something bigger than us. … We've made it about changing the world." Dudley went on to state, "We spend so much time celebrating such amazing things that hardly anyone can do that we have convinced ourselves that those are the only things worth celebrating."

There are so many amazing acts of leadership and success that we all can achieve, but we hardly ever celebrate as a society. For example, we only glorify the marathon runner but not the hundreds of people cheering for them.

In response to the tragedy, Bostonians listened to the needs of those in the city, demonstrated the utmost empathy and began the healing process for many. They were highly affective and highly impactful, certainly leaders and, in my humble opinion, heroes and heroines. See, we don't have to make leadership something planned, something fancy, something we are incapable of. Leadership is found in the smallest actions because often they have the grandest outcome. There is no medal of honor for these people, no Nobel Prize, no name in the paper. We often don't give these people the credit they deserve.

So I guess that's my challenge, for anyone who may be reading this. To instead of focusing on whoever is responsible for the tragedy, maybe think a little bit more about the hundreds of leaders responsible for the healing.

Instead of making leadership something you can't attain, look for ways you can make someone's day today. To quote spiritual author Marianne Williamson, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure."

You have the power to change someone's life. We face crises every day. There are people in your community who continue to face unexpected circumstances whether it is illness, relationship problems, or financial issues. So even if you can't change the world, you can always change someone's world.

Rebecca Tenaglia, a 2012 graduate of Liberty High School, is a first-year pharmacy student at University of Rhode Island with a minor in leadership studies.